Entangled History: Ukraine and her neighbours, from the Middle Ages to the Present (HI2J8)

This module introduces students to the history of Ukraine and, through it, to the history of its neighbours, particularly Russia and Poland. It also familiarises students with theories of nation-building and nationalism, emphasising the importance of symbols, historical writing, and culture in the construction of national identities.

Until recently, Western conceptions of Ukrainian history were largely shaped by frameworks derived from Russian historiography, which viewed Ukraine as part of the “Russian world” or, between 1917 and 1991, as an integral part of the Soviet Union. Alternative interpretations developed within nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ukrainian historiography were often overlooked. The module aims to decolonise Ukrainian history without simply replacing dominant Russian or older Polish narratives with a Ukrainian one. Instead, it treats Ukrainian history as deeply entangled with Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Ottoman, and other histories, while recognising that Ukrainians (or, to use earlier ethnonyms, Rus’, Rusyny, and Ruthenians) frequently found themselves in a colonial relationship with imperial centres.

In the Autumn Term, we examine the medieval and early modern periods, exploring how cultural and political developments in Ukraine, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Muscovy/the Russian Empire created the conditions for the emergence of the modern Ukrainian nation. The term concludes with an analysis of key texts by Ukrainian, Polish, and Russian political thinkers reflecting on their respective nations.

The Spring Term begins with an examination of processes of nationalisation before the First World War. This is followed by a series of lectures and seminars on the impact of war and revolution on Poland, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian state-building attempts between 1917 and 1921. The remainder of the module covers the twentieth century and beyond. Topics include nationality policies in interwar Poland and the Soviet Union, the Second World War, the post-war period, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the history of independent Ukraine up to the present day.